Volume 1, Chapter 20 – Zombie Extermination (Part 1)

And that night, we waited in the village’s central square.

It was a chilly season, so even wrapped in the robe the King had given me, I was still a little cold.

Under the frigid sky, we warmed ourselves before a bonfire.

The crescent moon hanging in the clear winter sky faintly illuminated us and the village.

“Fiene-sama, please do not overexert yourself. While the Zombies’ movements are not particularly fast, there is a risk of being poisoned or cursed if bitten. Please be very mindful of your MP depletion.”

“Yes. I understand.”

That said, since my resistance to poison and curses is maxed out, they probably wouldn’t have any effect.

But Zombies look filthy. I felt like just touching them would give me some weird disease.

More than anything, I’d really rather not get bitten by something so disgusting.

As I was thinking such things, a low groan, “Uuuuh,” could be heard from the direction of the cemetery.

“Fiene-sama, they’re coming.”

“I know. Let’s do this.”

Rеaⅾ οո KαtRеαⅾіոɡСаfе

Looking toward the cemetery, I saw dull bluish-green figures shambling toward us on two legs.

That must be a Zombie.

Looking closer, some had eyeballs dangling halfway out, while others had already lost them entirely, leaving gaping holes in their sockets.

Ugh, gross.

As I watched, thinking that, the wind seemed to shift, carrying a piercing, terrible stench of decay that assaulted my nose.

“Ugh, it stinks…”

I instinctively pinched my nose. Chris-san looked surprised.

“Fiene-sama, you can smell that?”

“Huh? Doesn’t it smell awful? It stinks, seriously. And they look disgusting too.”

“Oh, you can see them even in this darkness? As expected, a High Elf’s senses are astounding.”

“I’m not a High Elf though… Come on, let’s get this over with already. I can’t stand the smell.”

As I stood up, Chris-san also rose and drew the Holy Sword Whatchamacallit.

Rеαd οո ΚαtReaԁinɡCаfе

“Let’s see, there are four of them walking down the village path toward us. I’d say they’re still about 200 meters away. There should be about six more somewhere, but I can’t see them.”

“Then, Fiene-sama. Let’s start by purifying those four. I’ll follow behind and protect you.”

Right. This is for EXP farming. If Chris-san fights, I won’t get any EXP.

“Please do!”

I slowly walked closer until they were within my magic’s range. I stopped when they seemed about 50 meters away and used Purification magic.

—Okay then, dear Zombies. You’re smelly and disgusting, so please hurry up and disappear to heaven or hell or wherever already. Purification Magic!

Pillars of light shot up precisely where the four Zombies stood, sending them off somewhere. Heaven, hell, who knows.

“It still stinks. I swear my nose is going to fall off. I’m actually jealous that you can’t smell it, Chris-san.”

“But couldn’t you follow the smell to find the source?”

“I’m not a dog, I can’t do that!”

No matter how sharp a Vampire’s senses are, there’s no way I could figure out where something is just from a smell drifting through the air.

But seriously, it stank. It just stank. Absolutely, unbearably foul.

Rеaԁ oո KаtReαdiոɡСαfе

“Uuuuh”

Oh, more of them from the cemetery direction.

“It seems to be the cemetery. Let’s go take a look, Fiene-sama.”

“Right.”

We headed toward the cemetery. Along the way, we purified two more Zombies along the way.

And what we saw upon reaching the cemetery was a rather shocking scene: Zombies were crawling up out of the graves. They twisted and writhed their way out of the soil in front of the tombstones.

“Ughhhhh, gross! And it stinks, stinks, STINKS!”

I couldn’t help but complain.

“My, this is quite a rare sight. It’s my first time seeing it too.”

Even Chris-san was grimacing a little now.

“I don’t want to see this! Ugh, what a scene. Take this, all of you—Purification!”

I activated Purification magic and wiped out all the Zombies crawling out at once.

Rеαd оո КαtRеαdіոgСαfе

“Fiene-sama’s Purification magic is on a different level as always. By the way, is your MP okay?”

“Huh? Now that you mention it, it’s fine. Looks like I still have plenty left. Why?”

Come to think of it, when I purified Schwarz, I think I used quite a bit of magic without even realizing it, but my MP was completely fine.

But during healing work, I ran out of MP ridiculously fast.

“I see. I understand.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“Fiene-sama, you must be the type who performs well under pressure!”

Ah yes, I was an idiot for expecting a real answer. MP costs are fixed values, so that can’t possibly be it!

We had that silly exchange, but no more Zombies seemed to be coming.

It looked like that was the last of them, so today’s Zombie extermination came to an end.

We headed straight back to the village chief’s house and went to sleep on a bed that was firmer than usual.